The internal evidence of Revelation proves it was not written in 95 AD.
Revelation was Written 95-96 AD, and Jesus Prophesied the Destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD in Matthew 24.3.
14 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES
1.All the writers of the first three and a half centuries agreed Johns exile was at the latter part of the reign of Domitian, the last of 12 Caesars, therefore Revelation was written in 95 or 96 AD. No writer in the first three and a half centuries suggested any other date.
2.It would not make much sense John wrote Revelation before 70 AD when nobody could get their hands on it to be warned about these things to come while he was imprisoned for thirty years.
3.If it was applied strictly to Neros time Revelation has no spiritual value for us in the church age, events leading up to the return of Christ and the future beyond so it is not already fulfilled.
4.The Antichrist cannot be a Teitan (a "latin man") even though equaling 666, for the Antichrist was never called such by early Christian writers, and surely John living so close to Latin times would have said something. Irenaeus says, therefore, the Antichrist will arrive in some distant era beyond his own time.
5.Irenaeus was a pupil of Polycarp who himself was one of Johns pupils, so he was in a better position to know when he stated that the Antichrist would not be Teitan.
6.Tertullian said Domitian was cruel like Nero, but often ceased from his attempts at killing Christians. Banishment as with John was the more likely avenue, whereas Nero would just put you to death. So it is highly unlikely Nero banished John.
7.Clement of Alexandria speaks of a "tyrant" after whose death John returns from exile. John did not return from Patmos a few years after Nero's death (68 AD), for if he had then he wouldn't have written Revelation before but most likely after 70 AD. Since Domitian died 96 AD, that would be when John was released or thereabouts, writing down all that he saw and heard.
8.Eusebius in three passages states the banishment of John took place in reign of Domitian and that the time of Johns revelation was in the fourteenth year reign of Domitian (95 AD).
9.Victorinus of Petau, the earliest extant writer on the apocalypse, said John revealed his revelation when he was released from Patmos at 95 AD or thereabouts. He explained the words: "prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings" (Rev. 10.11).
10.Victorinus, martyred in 303 AD, said Domitian was the sixth king reigning during when the apocalypse was written, who was not the seventh or eighth king talked about in Revelations 17.11.
11.The first 5 Caesars who died horrific deaths, not by natural causes, were Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Augustus died of natural causes, the Year of the Four Emperors were short-lived. Vespian and Titus died of natural causes. Then comes Domitian the twelfth Caesar. "Five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come" (18.10). "The beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition" (17.11). "Is not" refers to Nero at the time of John's writing since Nero had already died so he is not the sixth ("one is"); but Nero will come again as the Antichrist, taking the body of the seventh (the seventh appears for only short while). Of all the names of Caesars only Nero's name adds up to 666.
12.Jerome from the 4th century-somewhat later-said that the revelation John received was written down at Patmos and was written in the fourteenth year of Domitian's reign (95 AD) and was the second Caesar who persecuted Christians, Nero obviously being the first. Whoever is the first to throw the first stone is considered to be the most evil. Nero was the epitome of evil.
13.This harmony was ruined by Epiphanius of Salamis in the late 4th century whose testimony is worthless plus it is incredible. He was careless and an inaccurate ancient writer. Jesus died at the age of 37 1/2 April 3, 33 AD (Julian)*. He actually wrote that John at the age of 90 was released into the reign of Claudius. Claudius was assassinated in 54 AD. If this is true and assuming Jesus ministered for three years then John would had to have been at least 66 years old (90-(54-30)) when called to be an Apostle in 30 AD and 34 years older than Jesus.
14.Many other authors are also in favor of the Domitian date, but the evidence presented above is substantial.
* Watchman Nee said Epiphaneus' erroneous view that John was 90 years old when released into the reign of Claudius would mean Jesus was 63 years old when called to be an Apostle. Nee assumed Jesus began his ministry in 27 AD at the age of 30 and rounded off His death on the cross at 30 AD which is a common practice. Gary R. Habermas does the same for ease of calculation, and he is the leading expert in the world on the death and crucifixion of Jesus. The 30 AD death on the cross date doesn't fit because that would be on a Wednesday, Nisan 14, 30 AD, leaving Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday (4 evenings in the tomb) and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (4 mornings in the Tomb). Jonah was only in the belly of a whale for 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus was captured into the belly of earthly Israel on Thursday so that constitutes 3 days and 3 nights perfectly. We are also told Jesus was resurrected not after the third day but on the third day which could only apply if Jesus died on Friday. And the other problem is why would the women wait till Sunday, 4 day later, to go see Jesus in the tomb to put spices on His body when they could have done so on either Thursday or Friday if the Wednesday crucifixion were true? The Roman Church gets many things wrong, but they at least properly acknowledged when Jesus died on the cross on Easter Good Friday.
